​Climate Change Adaptation at the international level

At COP 21 in Paris, Parties to the UNFCCC reached a landmark agreement to combat climate change and to accelerate and intensify the actions and investments needed for a sustainable low carbon future.

The Paris Agreement provides certainty about the global low-carbon future in the same way that the Climate Change Act (Scotland) in 2009 provided certainty for Scotland’s low-carbon future. The Agreement provides a clear international context for Scotland’s action on climate change.

The Paris Agreement puts a strong emphasis on adaptation and resilience. It puts adaptation on a par with mitigation, and links the two. The Agreement sets a global goal of “enhancing adaptive capacity, strengthening resilience and reducing vulnerability to climate change, with a view to contributing to sustainable development and ensuring an adequate adaptation response in the context of the temperature goal”.

All countries are expected to undertake adaptation planning and action, and communicate those actions to the global community.

Scotland’s approach to adaptation planning and action is highly regarded internationally and the Adaptation Scotland programme has close links with international partners. These links enable us to promote Scotland’s adaptation work internationally and, ensure that Scotland benefits from knowledge and insights developed by international partners.

In June 2017 Scotland will host the European Climate Change Adaptation Conference in Glasgow. The Adaptation Scotland programme led Scotland’s bid to host this conference and we look forward to working with our partners to showcase Scotland’s adaptation work to an international audience of adaptation experts.